James - I'm going nowhere!

David James has pledged his future to Pompey, insisting in The News that he is not looking to leave the club anytime soon.

As far as he is concerned he has a contract until 2010 and the England no.1 has no intention of going just because Harry Redknapp has: 'although Harry has left, nothing has changed as far as I'm concerned regarding my future at the club.

'I'm very confident for the future with the players we've got here. If we'd lost half of the players when Harry left, then things might be slightly different.

'But we haven't lost any players and I'm confident we'll continue to do well.'

I believe what he says as he always comes across as a man with loyalty and morals - if he says he does not want to leave then I genuinely believe that he means it, but we also need to be loyal to him as well!

Player after player is being 'linked' with other clubs, mainly Spurs which is clearly an easy assumption to make seeing as Redknapp has gone to them, but James has also said that unless the club need to sell players he can see no reason why others will be thinking any different to him: 'I'd imagine that if any players left, it would be down to financial reasons and nothing else.

'You could argue that if some do leave, it would have happened with Harry had he been here anyway.

'Of course, I'm hoping everything will stay exactly as it is.

'We've got some excellent players and I don't know of any who want to leave just because Harry has gone.'

As far as I am concerned now, having taken a week or so to take stock and gather my thoughts much as James has said I am no less concerned or worried, or even bothered about players leaving in January than I was with or without Redknapp - I expected at least 1 player to go, and still feel this will be the case so it will come as no surprise to me should this happen, and to be honest should it really come as a surprise to anyone?

At the end of the day though if players want to leave let them go, if playing for Redknapp again means so much to them let them do it - if they want to stay, and we are in a financial position to allow this lets stick by them as they want to stick by us! Loyalty is basically a thing of the past in football, but it is not completely dead, but cuts both ways...

As said before, as much as I would love them all to stay if letting go of the jewel in the crown Lassana Diarra meant we could keep others then this is a sacrifice that we would have to make - this is one that I had accepted happening in January, next summer at the latest, anyway, lets be honest the fella is too good for us, he is too good for most other clubs in this country too! Ideal scenario for me would be Milan seeing him against them in the uefa cup, thinking 'I'll have some of that' and they take him to Italy!

By selling him, if we get what we should do for him - at least £15-£20m, this should allow us to keep others, if others go potentially we would have to sell 2 or 3 for the money we 'should' get for him.

In an ideal world we will keep them all, but this is not an ideal world is it - but again lets not get too downhearted and too negative, anyone that was not prepared for at least one departure in January with or without Redknapp needs a rethink - but his departure should not change too much that will happen, and hopefully won't...

PLAY UP POMPEY!

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Your Comments (oldest first)

Just got back from picking up the News and this article has cheered me up no end. Like you say Rug, all of all the people in football, he's one of the ones most likely to tell the truth. Not only is he a superstar - he's OUR superstar.

ive been waiting to here more from jamo, his silence over the past week seems to have spoken alot to me - he wasnt happy that HR upped and went...he has done his part, now it is down to us to do ours - the 'real' test will come in january, 'should' we get a £2m plus offer if we take it, if we accept then he will go, not because he wants to but once offers are accepted it becomes clear that the player is expendable - and jamo is one of the players we desperately need to keep!

I trust jamo is speaking the truth... unlike when HR said he was pompey for life... although at the time, I belevied that too! anyway, 2 million for jamo I would NEVER take - he is worth s much more to us than that (in terms of gained points/league position alone)! and as far as the "players may leave if the money's right" ... what's new there?

When you read the article, he doesn't rule anything out, he doesn't say he's 'Pompey till I die', he says he wants things to stay the same, and if they do, he's happy to stay. He hasn't made any silly pledges he might not be able to keep, which you have to respect. What is good is that when Harry's little finger beckons him in January, Jamo won't go running, and I'm sure Tony will fight to keep him. As for £2m - you're having a larf!

Could not have said it better myself P4me.. It's great to have Englands No1 at Fratton Park and that in itself will attract others .. although Tracey does have a point in here thread.. on the newswires this morning some lead with 'Jamo stays' while other lead with James could go if there was an exodus.. one or two even lead with the story that he thinks there will be an exodus.. I guess its how you read it..

If the price is right they'll all go. It's not about loyalty it's about their careers. I don't feel annoyed about this state of affairs any more than I feel annoyed about global capitalism or the fact that it's bl***y freezing at the moment - there's nothing I can do about it, it's a fact of life. Remember what the buddhists say - everything must pass - Thye come, they go, we watch, we suffer, we rejoice...life's rich tapestry. Go with the flow like a twig on the shoulders of a mighty stream. Oh, and don't read the papers, they are bad for you.

Everyone, except City I s'pose have financial restraints on themselves, so I can't see "half" our players going. As for Spurs, Levy has already said he isn't going to spend big in January as he already spent big in the summer. It remains to be seen how much sway Harry will have over him. But in any event, most of our stars are on much more money than any of Spurs, so I think we are panicking just a little bit. Glad Jamo came out and said what he did, makes you a little more settled.

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